Bikini, As We Know It, Turns 55 (VIDEO)

Keeping with our Style-themed rapture coverage (also see: pre-apocalypse "Would You Wear It?"), happy 55th anniversary of that one time America dropped a hydrogen bomb over Namu island, part of the Bikini Atoll!

So, that's not actually the fashion-related bit, but here it is -- Gizmodo reminds us that May 1946 was also when French car engineer Louis Réard created his two-piece bathing suit. Quoth Jesus Diaz:

Réard named his invention the bikini because of the Bikini Atoll nuclear tests. He thought that everyone would be shocked by the risqué display of curves and belly buttons. He was right. During many years, the bikini caused more surprise than any of the nuclear tests conducted by the United States and the Soviet Union. The joke at the time was that that the "bikini" split the "atom", because it was introduced right after a tiny single-piece bathing suit called the Atome.

Yuk, yuk. Of course, Réard isn't responsible for the swimwear's first formulation. That would be grace à the Greco-Romans or even some artists in the Chalcolithic era circa 5600 BC, depending upon whom you ask.

WATCH:

Read the rest at Gizmodo.

Comments

[evekendall]

09:59 PM on 05/21/2011

The headline and story contain an error. If the bikini was invented in May 1946, this would be its 65th birthday, not its 55th birthday.

[SamKnause]

08:17 PM on 05/21/2011

We haven't made much progress.

A nude body causes more outrage in this country then bombs, drones, and invading multiple countries.

[intellifran]

06:43 AM on 05/23/2011

So many things wrong with this statement. Where shall I begin? Bikinis don't cause protests? There, I will leave it at that.

[Political8]

11:17 AM on 05/23/2011

The piece mentioned wearing a bikini caused more outrage than exploding an atomic bomb.

[Political8]

11:15 AM on 05/23/2011

I actually get what you are saying. The bikini is celebrated for its hint of revealing, while the actual nude body is demonized worse than bankers, who rob the average families fo their homes. did I come close?

[noaxe397]

07:07 PM on 05/21/2011

Did we all notice how womanly the figures of the models were?
 
But, seriously, I thought the inventor could not get ANY model to wear one when he introduced it (so risque the model would never get work again)  and orginally had to hire strippers to model it.

[mrmikes]

09:44 AM on 05/21/2011

It was a navel experiment.

[jflorish]

12:54 AM on 05/21/2011

The next greatest thing invented after the bikini was breast implants :)

[noaxe397]

07:06 PM on 05/21/2011

X2

[intellifran]

06:45 AM on 05/23/2011

They're a double edge sword. Men love them but women give you dirty looks. If you get anything bigger than a D you can't fit into most cute bras or even bikini tops. They need to make more bikini tops for ladies like myself who se the value in a full chest. =D

[Onertwo19]

12:54 AM on 05/21/2011

And who wears a bikini better than any woman in those 55 years? Samantha Brown from the Travel Channel.

[johnnygoodwud]

10:21 PM on 05/20/2011

nice,,,,,,,,,,when a few things were still left to the imagination.

[Lahonda]

09:56 PM on 05/20/2011

Ah, it's the small things in life that are most important.

[Hailardri]

07:43 PM on 05/20/2011

Let me check my math........ Let's see 1946 to 2011 is 65 years NOT 55.

[Daisytoo]

10:36 PM on 05/20/2011

Thank you. HP strikes again.

[jflorish]

12:53 AM on 05/21/2011

lol.... good catch

[flyn2hi]

05:53 PM on 05/20/2011

That should read "shame." Sometimes my fingers move faster than my mind thinks!

[flyn2hi]

05:52 PM on 05/20/2011

Notice all the curvy bodies in bikinis in the promos! Sahme we has more sense back then about healthy body weight!

[LisaLisa1234]

05:51 PM on 05/20/2011

Amazing that these women would be told to lose weight in order to model bikinis today.

[Highball]

05:57 PM on 05/20/2011

You mean like someone like Brooklyn Decker?

Swimsuit models and high fashion runway models have different bodies, typically. Just as your typical runway model (think Lindsey Wixson) doesn't have the same sort of body as your typical Victoria's Secret model (think Miranda Kerr).

[ECB]

07:16 PM on 05/20/2011

Yep